Computers have increasingly found their way into control systems of various mobile vehicles. For the purposes of this application, mobile vehicles includes but is not limited to all types of aircraft, spacecraft, submersibles, water craft, hover craft, wheeled vehicles, tracked vehicles, and the like. Computers have proven especially useful, for example, in aircraft because pilots are provided with a vast array of information from numerous different sources. An on-board computer can help to sort through the information and display it in a coherent manner. In complex vehicles, like aircraft, the computer also controls a number of different systems such as navigation and communications. Therefore, interaction with an on-board computer while a vehicle is in motion has become increasingly important.
Inherent in mobile vehicles, like aircraft, is erratic motion. For instance, aircraft encounter turbulence, and may perform drastic aerial maneuvers. Automobiles go over bumps, and turn sharp corners. Water craft encounter rough seas and high winds.
Erratic motion is especially prevalent in military vehicles. Fighter pilots subject their planes and themselves to violent directional changes. Military land craft, like army tanks, travel at high speed over severely rough terrain. Military and Coast Guard vessels frequently venture into rough seas.
Often, it is during times of extremely erratic motion that accurate computer and instrument input is most important. For instance, a pilot of a passenger plane loaded with people will be particularly interested in maintaining control of the air craft during a violent thunderstorm. Similarly, a gunner in a military tank or on a military ship may need to enter coordinates on a tactical computer while the vehicle is traveling at high speed.
Passengers in a vehicle may also interact with computers. For instance, a passenger may play a computer game at his or her seat during a commercial airline flight, either with an on-board computer or a personal computer. Likewise, a passenger in a private airplane may want to plot a course, for example, to the next world class golf course. In all of these situations, accurate computer or device input can be important and may be critical.
Conventional cursor control devices, such as a mouse or a track ball, embodied in their typical form factor for use with a desktop computer, however, are much too unstable. For instance, the typical mouse cannot provide the degree of stability necessary when the desk top is vibrating and being jostled back and forth. A standard computer key board has similar limitations in that it is difficult to type when the keyboard is bouncing up and down. Many standard keyboards are also too large to be practical in mobile applications.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide an input device for use in mobile vehicles that allows accurate computer and device input.